animalphiles

Groups seek more protection for loggerheads

From Associated Press:
Two environmental groups are asking the Interior Department to declare loggerhead sea turtles that inhabit the Atlantic coast officially endangered, maintaining that tens of thousands of the turtles are killed annually by commercial fishing and because of coastal development.

Oceana, a sea life advocacy group, and the Center for Biological Diversity are filing a petition with the Interior Department and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) asking that the Western Atlantic Sea Turtle be declared a sub-species and officially endangered, which would give the turtle and its habitat increased protection.

"Loggerhead sea turtles in the western Atlantic are in grave peril. ... Their numbers have plummeted to historic lows," says the petition.

Elizabeth Griffin, a marine wildlife scientist at Oceana, said the biggest threat to the turtle comes from commercial and sport fishing as turtles often are caught in nets, fishing lines and other devices. The petition says turtles also are killed by ingesting refuse from plastic items to balloons.

Griffin said the turtles nest primarily along the Atlantic coast from Florida to the Carolinas but they migrate as far north as New England. It's uncertain how many turtles there are, but a recent government report said tens of thousands of them are killed every year when caught in fishery nets and lines.

Commercial fishing is the single greatest human threat to the turtles but they also have been harmed by coastal development, which has deprived them of beach habitat and disturbed their nesting, the petition says.

The environmental groups argue in their petition that climate change may put the loggerhead in yet more peril. If sea levels rise along coasts where there is development, beaches the turtles use for nesting may disappear and even a 1 degree temperature increase could significantly affect their reproduction, said Griffin.
Photo: Reuters

Loggerhead numbers down

From Associated Press
After encouraging gains in the 1990s, populations of loggerhead sea turtles are now dropping, primarily because of commercial fishing, according to a federal review.

The report stops short of recommending upgrading the federally threatened species to "endangered" status. But scientists and environmentalists say it should serve as a wake-up call about the future of loggerheads, which can grow to more than 300 pounds and are believed to be one of the oldest species.

"We are very concerned," said Mark Dodd, a wildlife biologist for the state of Georgia. In 2006, the state counted the third lowest loggerhead nesting total since daily monitoring began in 1989.

"As a biologist you're always trying to find that point at which we really have to start doing something drastic if we want to maintain loggerhead populations on our beaches."

The state is not there yet, he said, but it has increased protections for the turtle under its own endangered species law.

The Southeast — Florida in particular — is one of the two largest loggerhead nesting areas in the world; eggs are laid and hatched along beaches from Texas to North Carolina.

According to the federal report, U.S. nestings have dropped almost 7 percent annually in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years. Numbers in south Florida are down about 4 percent annually, while populations in the Carolinas and Georgia have dropped about 2 percent per year.

The review, a five-year status update required under the Endangered Species Act, compiled data from previous local reports, which showed similar trends. It was conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, which jointly have jurisdiction over protecting the turtles. The agencies also issued updates, with mixed results, on five other sea turtles from around the world.

The U.S. loggerhead trend is a marked turnaround from the steady or increasing numbers found in the 1990s. In south Florida, for example, nesting studies showed gains of almost 4 percent per year from 1989 to 1998.

Researchers are puzzled by the shift; some suspect expanding commercial fishing operations are to blame. The report said fisheries are the "most significant manmade factor affecting the conservation and recovery of the loggerhead."

Barbara Schroeder, national sea turtle coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said the problem is growing as developing countries bring fishing fleets on line, fishing ships go farther from land and demand for seafood increases.

The loggerhead lives most of its life in the sea, migrating vast distances according to season. Females leave the water only for reproduction, digging nests in the sand, covering them and returning to sea. In nesting season, they can lay hundreds of the small, white, leathery eggs.

The eggs hatch after about two months and the young turtles crawl to the ocean.

Because little is known of the animal's migratory patterns, scientists rely largely on nesting numbers to gauge population strength.

Environmental groups and government agencies have worked to raise awareness of the nests. They have opposed construction of sea walls and other beachfront barriers and urged property owners to reduce or eliminate beachfront lights that can disorient hatchlings.

The government intends to issue an updated recovery plan for the turtle in the coming months, but advocates say federal agencies have responded slowly to threats to the species.

Citing the long-term trends confirmed in the new study, they want more money spent to evaluate the loggerhead's migration patterns and its encounters with fishing fleets.

Oceana, a worldwide advocacy group that monitors ocean health, is calling for the creation of protected habitats where commercial fishing would not be allowed during certain times of the year.

The report "raises the bar for the agency to act and to stop the interactions between the sea turtles and the fishing gear," said Dave Allison, director of Oceana's campaign to protect sea turtles. "It's not enough to simply slow down the extinction of these animals. There is an affirmative responsibility to rebuild those populations."

Taiwan strives to save turtles

Conservation officials in Taiwan are worried extensive efforts to save the islands' green turtles may not be enough. Those efforts include a nesting reserve, a veterinary clinic and even a beach patrol.

Shiue Jie-yin of the Penghu County Conservation and Protection Division said the efforts have clearly prevented a recurrence of mass killings from a time when residents thought nothing of harvesting the turtles for their meat and eggs.

Worldwide, there are only about 200,000 of the green turtles, conservationists say. Fewer than 20 females have been laying eggs on Penghu, a collection of picturesque islets about 25 miles off the western Taiwanese coast.

Penghu's great green turtle die-off reached its peak 20 years ago, when residents and visitors killed them in great numbers.
photo:AP/Wally Santana

Could cloning save leatherbacks?

Malaysia is considering a plan to clone the endangered leatherback turtle. But some biologists say it would be impractical at best - and maybe impossible.

Malaysia's Fisheries Department says the cloning project could cost $9 million dollars over the next five years. Officials are hoping the clones would produce hatchlings to boost the declining population. Many of the remaining females are not producing fertile eggs.

A United Nations report says leatherback nesting sites in Malaysia have dipped from the thousands a few decades ago to less than 10 in recent years.

Some conservationists call cloning a bizarre idea and the money set aside for it should be used for other actions that are more likely to succeed in helping restore the population - such as fighting overfishing and pollution.

Lonesome George needs mate, but search could be futile

Scientists are searching the Galapagos Islands, hoping to stumble upon a female of an all-but-extinct species of giant tortoise. Only one known specimen remains and his name is "Lonesome George."  But, even if a mate is found - the chances of George reproducing are slim to none.

Researchers say George may not know how to mate and may be physiologically incapable of reproducing. Biologist Sveva Grigioni, who worked with George 13 years ago, says she could normally get tortoises to ejaculate within minutes, but spent months manually stimulating George and never extracted semen from him.    

Age is not George's problem. He is estimated at between 60 and 90 years old, and could live to be 200 and still reproduce, scientists say. But they believe George has never seen his own kind reproduce - and he has shown no interest in females of other species.

Until recently, George was thought to be the last member of a species of giant tortoise found only on Pinta, one of the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador.

Earlier this year, however, scientists at Yale University in Connecticut said they had found a male tortoise on the island of Isabela, another Galapagos island, that was the offspring of a Pinta male and an Isabela female. That suggests there may be Pinta island tortoises on Isabela.

Rare turtle hatches in Tennessee

A tiny critter is causing a huge sensation at the Tennessee Aquarium. It's a rare Beal's four-eyed turtle, named for two white spots on the back of its head that look like another pair of eyes.

Reptile experts at the Chattanooga facility say the turtle "may represent the first successful reproduction of Sacalia bealei in a North American institution."

The baby turtle weighed only two-tenths of an ounce and was one-and-a-half inches long when it hatched June 9. It will not be put on display until it is much older.

There are only 18 known Beal's four-eyed turtles in the United States and Europe.

Rare turtle found in Cambodia

One of the world’s largest and least studied freshwater turtles has been found in Cambodia’s Mekong River, raising hopes that the threatened species can be saved from extinction.

Scientists from WWF, Conservation International, the Cambodian Fisheries Administration and the Cambodian Turtle Conservation Team captured a 24.2-pound female Cantor’s giant soft-shell turtle during a recent river survey.

“This incredible discovery means that a unique turtle can be saved from disappearing from our planet,” said David Emmett, a wildlife biologist at Conservation International.  “We thought it might be almost gone, but found a number of them on this one pristine stretch of the Mekong, making the area the world’s most important site for saving this particular species.”

Instead of an exterior shell commonly associated with turtles, the Cantor’s giant soft-shell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) has a rubbery skin with ribs fused together to form a protective layer over the internal organs. To protect itself from predators, it spends 95 per cent of its life hidden in sand or mud with only its eyes and nose showing.

The turtle can grow up to 6 feet in length and weigh more than 110 pounds. It also possesses long claws and can extend its neck with lightning speed to bite with jaws powerful enough to crush bone. “It has the fastest strike of any animal I’ve ever seen, including cobras,” Emmett added.

Rare turtle born in Atlanta

A rare Arakan forest turtle has hatched at Zoo Atlanta, boosting conservation efforts.

Zoo Atlanta is the only place successfully breeding these turtles incaptivity, with four born in the past six years. Another egg is being monitored right now.

The species is native to Myanmar but has been hunted almost to extinction because of its popularity for use in food and Asian medicines.

“We are thrilled at this birth, but saddened by the dire situation this species faces in the wild, “said Dr. Joseph Mendelson, Zoo Atlanta curator of herpetology. “We hope to tell the story of the Arakan forest turtle and use it to educate the world about the importance of sustainable food sources.”
photo: AP/Gene Blythe

The great turtle race

Soon a group of leatherback turtles will sprint from Costa Rica to their feeding grounds in the Galapagos Islands. You  can track track this race and even sponsor one of the satellite-tagged turtles by checking out http://www.greatturtlerace.com/. The race runs April 16-29.

The event  is being organized by Conservation International, the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment, the Leatherback Trust and the Tagging of Pacific Predators program. Proceeds will go to protect Cost Rica's Playa Grande and highlight problems facing leatherback turtles, which evolved more than 100 million years ago and have outlived the dinosaurs.

Organizers say, "Leatherback numbers have decreased at Playa Grande from thousands of nesting turtles 10 years ago to fewer than 100 in the last five years."  It's estimated they could be extinct in the Pacific Ocean within a decade. The tag line for the race event is, "Leatherback turtles: they're going faster than you think."

Marine turtle nestings up in South Africa

From WWF:
Loggerhead nestings have reached record levels in South Africa, a positive sign for the endangered marine turtle. According to monitoring conducted by WWF-South Africa over the 2005–06 season, there were over 2,000 loggerhead nestings found along the northern KwaZulu Natal coastline.

“This is the highest number recorded in 43 years,” said Richard Penn Sawers, head of the WWF/Green Trust Turtle Monitoring and Community Development Project.

Populations of the more critically endangered leatherback turtle are also thriving here, with an average of 70–80 nestings per season.

One of the main contributing factors to the stability of South Africa’s marine turtle populations is that they breed almost entirely within the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, which is a designated marine protected area and World Heritage site.

Elsewhere, populations are in decline due to the consumption of turtle meat and eggs in poverty-stricken coastal areas, and as a result of fisheries bycatch and abandoned drift nets, which continue to drown turtle species in unknown numbers.

“The overall aim of this project is to conserve and manage the populations through community involvement in turtle monitoring, conservation, tourism and education,” Sawers added.

This includes the introduction of an eco-education programme at several schools in the project area.

“The next challenge for the project is to extend marine turtle conservation up the Mozambique coastline,” said Simanga Mageba, who is coordinating the project’s 16 monitoring sites in KwaZulu Natal.

“These amazing animals are so important to the future of all people living here. Let’s hope in another 43 years time we can look back to this time as a giant stride for marine conservation.”